Master of Business Administration and Social Sciences, Service Management (Msc.Soc.SEM) Copenhagen Business School, Denmark, 2012 Master Thesis: Attracting Chinese Tourists to Denmark. A Focused Study on Chinese Tourists’ Perceptions Student: Jurgita Lahouati, Supervisor: Associate Professor, Can- Seng Ooi, Department of International Economics and Management, CBS Date of submission: 29th.of November 2012 Number of pages (excl. Appendixes) 80p 1 Author Statement: I hereby confirm that this thesis is my own work where I have respected the rules over the formularities and used referencies to avoid plagiarism. Jurgita Lahouti 29th. of November 2012, Abbreviations: ADS- approved Destination Status CBS - Copenhagen Business School FG- Focus Groups PRC- People‘s Republic of China STB – Scandinavian Tourism Board WOCO- Wonderful Copenhagen WTO- World Tourism Organization 2 Abstract Due to the expanding Chinese outbound tourism worldwide and Chinese tourists‘ spending power, many tourist destinations including Denmark have recognized the need to know Chinese tourists better and to adjust themselves to their needs. As tourists have certain images about tourist destinations, these perceptions effect tourists‘ motivation to visit them. Furthermore, tourists perceptions might differ from those that tourism industry tries to present, what creates ‗image gap‘ resulting in miscommunication and wrong images in tourists‘ minds. Because of the dynamic nature of perceptions and their complexity, tourists‘ experiences and images of a destination change throughout the time. Therefore, it is important for a tourist destination as Denmark to know- what are Chinese tourists perceptions? Do they go in line with perceptions of industry and authorities? – in order to find out those ‗image gaps‘ and adjust their strategies them. Thus, the focus of this thesis was following: Attracting Chinese Tourists to Denmark. A focused study on Chinese tourists‟ perceptions. The goal was to find out : What are Chinese tourists‟ perceptions of Denmark? What are Chinese tourists‟ perceptions of tourists‟ attractions in Denmark? What are Chinese tourists‟ perceptions of services in Denmark? What are the initiatives of industry and authorities to keep a good image of Denmark and to attract more Chinese tourists to the country? These research issues leaded to qualitative research approach resulted in five focus groups interviews with Chinese tourists, several interviews with experts in industry and authorities, as well as additional research. Theoretical framework was based on different concepts and theories related both to these different parts of perceptions as well as Chinese tourist‘ behaviour. Findings in different chapters showed a huge variety of Chinese tourists views about different issues; some of them going in line with the initiatives of industry and authorities, while others leaded to perception ‗gaps‘. The main findings showed that Chinese tourists can not be 3 generalised. Chinese tourists are very heterogeneous and complex and there is no a single solution how to deal will them. Furthermore, findings have proved that Chinese tourists behaviour when visiting Denmark can be explained by ―Three Tourists Conditions‖ ( Ooi, 2001): 1) Their visits are very short, 2) They do not have local knowledge and 3) They come to enjoy. Due to their heterogeneity and these conditions, there were given following suggestions: that mediators should be sensitive about this issue; they should accept in their minds the fact that Chinese tourist are very diverse; and they should expect a new generation of Chinese tourists, that they will be even more different. 4 Acknowledgements First of all, I would like to express a big gratitude to my supervisor - Associate Professor Can Seng - Ooi for his guidance through every single stage of the thesis. His efficient way of supervision with sharp comments has helped me to improve myself gradually and reach my goals. He spent a lot of time and patience for communication, provided me with strong support and advices. Not only that I gained academic knowledge, but also got a big moral support along the way. Furthermore, I would like to thank all the people in the industry who have spent their precious time for personal interviews with me: Director of STB (Beijing), Steven Zhang; Route Development Manager, WOCO, Lene Wittek Holmberg Project Manager, WOCO, Signe Jungersted Cultural Counselor, Chinese Embassy in Denmark Li Jicheng Freelance Interpreter, Dan Jiao Former professional in handling Chinese tourists groups, Anna Frank I would also like to thank all the wonderful Chinese who have participated in my focus groups interviews. They all have contributed to my empirical research; and without them this project would not be possible. Especially, I would like to thank Qingbao Song from Confucius Institute at CBS for his initiatives. I am also thankful to my supportive friends and classmates who helped to keep my motivation and a good spirit through the process. A special thanks goes to my mother who cared even through a distance; to my brother who made lots of copies of books and print- outs; to my husband who most of the time took over daily responsibilities allowing me to work on the thesis. Without his help, I could have not done it. Therefore, I would like to dedicate this work to him as well and to my three little sons who were lacking my attention through this process as well as my unborn yet daughter who has joined me on the way. Jurgita Lahouati, November 2012 5 Table of Content CHAPTER 1 Problem Formulation 1.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 8 1.2 Problem identification ..................................................................................................................... 11 1.3 Interpretation of research issues ...................................................................................................... 11 1.4 Research design .............................................................................................................................. 13 CHAPTER 2 Research Methodology 2.1 Qualitative research approach ............................................................................................................... 14 2.2 Data Collection ..................................................................................................................................... 15 2.2.1 Collection of Secondary Data ........................................................................................................ 15 2.2.2 Collection of Primary Data ............................................................................................................ 16 2.2.2.1 Focus groups ........................................................................................................................... 16 2.2.2.2 Personal Interviews ................................................................................................................. 18 2.2.2.3 Additional field research ......................................................................................................... 19 2.3 Credibility of Research Design ............................................................................................................. 19 2.3.1 Reliability ....................................................................................................................................... 20 2.3.2 Validity .......................................................................................................................................... 20 2.3.3Triangulation ................................................................................................................................... 22 2.3.4 Objectivity and reflexivity ............................................................................................................. 23 2.3.5 Generalisability .............................................................................................................................. 24 CHAPTER 3 Theory 3.1 Theory ................................................................................................................................................... 24 CHAPTER 4 Chinese Outbound Tourism in Denmark 4.1 Chinese Outbound Tourists arrivals in Denmark .................................................................................. 27 6 4.2 A profile of Chinese leisure tourists in Denmark.................................................................................. 28 4.3 Current initiatives of Danish authorities and tourism industry ............................................................. 31 4.4 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................... 33 CHAPTER 5 Chinese Tourists’ Perceptions of Denmark 5.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 34 5.2 Discussion ............................................................................................................................................. 36 5.2.1 Perceptions of Denmark before visit .............................................................................................. 36 5.2.2 Perceptions of Denmark after visit ................................................................................................